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Keep Labor Day healthy with grilled chicken salad

Sara Moulton, Associated Press
1:56 p.m. EDT August 27, 2014

This July 21, 2014 photo shows butternut squash and apple Waldorf salad in Concord, N.H. The side dish can act as a compliment to a grilled main course for Labor Day. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead)(Photo: Matthew Mead, AP)

Paillard is a French culinary term referring to a piece of meat pounded thin, then grilled or sauteed. In this case, we’re going to marinate and grill chicken breasts, then top them off with a peach and arugula salad glorified with a full-fat blue cheese dressing.

Where do you find these skinny cuts of chicken? Chances are you can pick up thin chicken breast cutlets at the supermarket. Or you can buy chicken breasts of average girth, pop them in the freezer for 30 minutes, then cut them horizontally into two thin cutlets. Just be careful not to slip and cut your hand!

Whatever kind of breasts you start with, you’ll need to pound the cutlets to the desired thinness. And you’ll want to avoid shredding them in the process, which happens sometimes.

Here’s a little trick to avoid any shredding. Sprinkle both sides of the cutlet with cold water before putting it between two sheets of plastic wrap (or in a zip-close plastic bag). Then pound away, as planned, with a meat pounder or a rolling pin. You’ll notice that the water cushions the meat, preventing it from sticking to the plastic and shredding.

Next, it’s time to bathe the cutlets for an hour in a simple marinade of olive oil, lemon and garlic. Their thinness helps them to soak up the flavor fast. Grilling the cutlets takes almost no time at all, about 1 minute per side. Let them rest for 5 minutes and they’re good to go.

They also happen to be delicious at room temperature an hour later, which gives you the option of grilling up the chicken ahead of time, thus cutting down the stress of cooking while the party people are swarming the grill. However you do it, remember to save the juices from the plate on which the cutlets were resting; you’ll want to drizzle in it onto the chicken before topping it with the salad.

And the salad is a cinch — sliced fresh summer peaches and baby arugula (or your favorite greens) tossed with a blue cheese dressing. Happily, a little bit of full-fat blue cheese goes a long way. In this recipe, 1 ounce serves four people. Indeed, it’s so rich that I’ve combined it with low-fat mayonnaise, Greek yogurt and a little bit of water to thin it out. Toasted walnuts (a king among nuts, health-wise) provide the final touch.

See for yourself if this dish doesn’t allow you to kiss off the summer with abandon without knocking you to your knees in the process.

Sara Moulton was executive chef at Gourmet magazine for nearly 25 years, and spent a decade hosting several Food Network shows. She currently stars in public television’s “Sara’s Weeknight Meals” and has written three cookbooks, including “Sara Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners.”